I reallize it has been quite some time since I last updated this so I am sending my apologies.

Alright, where to start. It seems as though I have skipped blogs on Milan, Venice, Cinque Terre, Portugal, Ireland, and Morocco....which means i have A LOT to catch up on and A LOT to apologize for. I'll keep this blog on the topic of Italy and hopefully get to Portugal, Ireland, and Morocco before I leave for Rome and Athens on Saturday.

Milan- personally I wasn't impressed, it is probably my least favorite city thus far (this may have been because I couldn't afford anything, maybe when I come back in 10 years, making six figures, I will appreciate it more). However, we did only stay in Milan for one night and we didn't get to see The Last Supper because it was booked through July. We did see the duomo (cathedral) in the center of the downtown area and that was quite impressive. Other than that we enjoyed some window shopping. If you have looked at my pictures... you'll notice I have a picture of McDonalds and that is because in the very center of the shopping district there are four corner stores (I presume the most expensive to rent) and they consist of a top of the line Italian brand clothing store, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and quite unfortunately McDonalds. Other than that the only other thing we discovered in Milan was Italy's wonderful table charge... which means they charge between 1.50 and 3.00 euro per person for the table and just casually add it to the check without informing you... and according to some Germans that were sitting next to us, in Rome sometimes they tag on 10 euro for the live music that they have playing... however, you also don't know this until you get the bill.

Cinque Terre- If I could describe it in one word it would be gorgeous. If you have seen the pictures you know what I am talking about. Cinque Terre is a region located on the Northwest coast of the Mediterranean. It is comprised of 5 little towns of which are all walking distance. There is a trail along the coast so you can make the hike to all of the towns and it takes about 4 to 5 hours. The walk is absolutely beautiful and each town is equally impressive. We stayed in Riomaggiore which is the furthest north of the 5 towns, our hostal was actually a house at the very top of the mountains and the view from our window was the Mediterranean it was fantastic. Both nights that we were there we had appetizers and wine at this bar that was on the edge of one of the cliffs.. when we first got there we were trying to decide what to get to drink and the bartender said, 'well we have wine and water on tap so pick one of the two.' we went with the wine. I would definitely recommend Cinque Terre to anyone who wants a calming vacation.

Venice- I absolutely loved Venice as well. When we were on the plane coming back from Cairo Alex was sitting next to a man from South Africa and when she told him that we were going to Venice until Easter Sunday he said 'oh yeah I forgot all of Italy vacationed in Venice for Easter.' well we had no idea that Venice was the hotspot for Easter but it definitely was. There were vendors up and down all of the streets and it was absolutely packed with people day and night. Overall the town was very touristy but we absolutely loved it. We shopped around the first day picking up some souvenirs and on Easter Sunday we took a ferry to a neighboring island and spent the day on the beach of the Adriatic Sea. There wasn't much of a nightlife, however, we did find one bar where we met some Spaniards from Andalucia who studied in Madrid as well. We did take a gondola ride and all I can say is that our 'driver' talked on his phone the entire time and it was overpriced so needless to say we were not happy.

However, overall the trip was fantastic... so great that I am going back to Italy on Saturday to see Rome. If I could sum Italy up in a few words they would be: extremely good looking men, great wine, and awesome food... and if were to give any advice it would be skip the gondola ride in Venice and don't buy the train tickets because they NEVER check them.